It's Gotta Be You One Direction

Now on Louder Than War

It's X Factor fever and the papers, twitter, Facebook and chit chat is centred around X Factor's latest pantomime character 'Frankie Cocozza'. Well he's been allegedly taking drugs "Oh no he didn't?!" and big bosses are not happy with him so he's been given the boot. Just in time to join I'm a Celebrity if he wants...keep up that profile Frankie, just saying. Aside from the shock and awe about the "bad boy" being given the aXe something else X Factor related is stirring and that is of course One Direction.

The boys are back with a new video, for weeks Twitter team 1D have been getting everything they can about the boys trending, so much so that the fans are more like their PR now! They have a new single out 'Gotta Be You' and of course it's big news.

Taking a break from the fun, you're pretty, you don't know it, therefore you're amazing, they've turned down the tempo put on their serious faces and made a new video.

This video is ripe for parody, mocking and blogging.

The boys have obviously been consuming a bit of blue.....this song is very Simon, Lee, Anthony and Duncan-esque. They've slipped a few big words and phrases in there, they're a serious boy band, "anointed" and "what a mess I've made upon your innocence"- that one's too easy. To prove how serious they are auditioning to be the new models for Next, walking slowly in beige nicely layered clothing and even showing off their man bags, it's a wonder prices aren't popping up next to their nicely quaffed hair.

Just a couple of things just don't hit the mark with the video some obvious mistakes that just need a little translation, when there is a violin playing, Niall don't pick up the guitar.

If that isn't dangerous enough one of the scenes following it, is Zayn foolishly running on the train tracks to see his gal, he obviously didn't pay attention in that nice big EMPTY posh school Harry's running out of and his smarts obviously didn't get him into those big EMPTY University dorms Louis is walking down. Don't worry too much about Zayn it is a steam train he's hopping on so he won't get the riff raff bothering him.

After all this exiting business they set about on their next advertising venture; cars. As they start singing the chorus, "It's gotta be you-uuuu-uuu", Louis speeds off in his little mini, Harry on his shiny moped and Liam in his trendy Beetle. Leaving Zayn pouting out the window on the train and Nial looking bemused. Mum forgot to pick him up.

Looks like Nial might lose this top gear style who will get there first challenge.

Later on they've all met up, they are going camping, tweed's probably not the best ensemble for this venture. If the video isn't showing up enough epic mistakes the quick camera work across the river to the island towards the group of youngsters is like a bad Frankie Boyle joke waiting to happen.

And again during the string section Niall gets his six string out, talented little guy making his guitar sound like an army of violins.

The video finishes staying true to it's theme slipping into Marks and Spencer's clothes territory as they have fun and games near the bonfire, watch the fireworks and show off their threads it's a wonder that Twiggy doesn't zimmer in and tell them to keep the noise down.

Various Cruelties

After being told I was going to see this band, I had no idea what I would seeing the name indicated Metal band but I was wrong....

This is my review that is posted on Purple Revolver it can be found here along with a series of fetching pictures by Danny Payne who's pictures can be here and for more pictures here
Brudenell Social club is hot that even the brick work at the back of the stage is perspiring and as Various Cruelties' support act Soul Circus come on stage, they too start melting before our eyes.

The Leeds five piece have the look of your stereotypical indie band, sharp hair cuts and modish style. Their look might indicate that you are instantly able to pin point their sound, but you would be wrong.

Soul Circus perform strong catchy indie anthems, with catchy hooks and great backing, coupled with a really unique voice.

The front man's distinctive voice is akin to Morrisey or Beautiful South's Paul Heaton and his performance style just as individual. Using his mic and mic lead as a lasso he half-heartedly swings it in a small circle in the air, looking like bewildered cowboy trying to catch the drum beat.

Their performance is almost flawless and their sound is extremely well crafted and rehearsed. The band though having quite a small crowd to perform to played confidently with the attitude of playing to thousands.

Gigs in the Brudenell Social Club are always intimate but tonight was probably one of the most personal that you could experience.

Various Cruelties front man Liam O'Donnell hails from Leeds and because of this Various Cruelties couldn't have had a more supportive crowd. Groups of people formed around the stage calling out Liam's name and offering support whilst brimming with pride.

Liam begins by saying 'How Do' and instantly, friend or newcomer, you know that the gig will be a friendly one. He addresses people in the crowd by name and as he performs the "pinch me look" warms over his face.

The band are slick and the songs have several noteable influences; indie, pop, jazz and reggae and together these create a very original sound indeed.

O'Donnell's voice is smooth as butter with a tangy finish, his vocal style could perhaps be compared to Finley Quaye or Vampire Weekends' Ezra Koening.

He stops for intervals to have micro conversations with his friends and supporters before blowing the audience away from another powerful track.

The best performances of the night "If it wasn't for you" and the haunting "She's the one". As you listened to the smooth lyrics and the cool melodies Liam looks around the room and the intimacy of the gig was apparent then.

You realised that you could be standing next to anyone of his muses and this just made the performance that little bit magical.

Photos by Danny Payne
Words by Cat Marr

Alexisburntout

Canadian hardcore band, Alexisonfire announced this weekend that they have decided to call it quits. After ten years, the band released a statement saying that following guitarist/vocalist, Dallas's announcement that he would no longer be part of the band and would instead concentrate on pursuing other projects, increasing pressures have caused them to split.

The official statement was released this weekend,on the band's

website, www.theonlybandever.com.

After four studio albums and twelve singles the band have made their mark on the popular music scene and made waves over the social networking sites after news of the split travelled.

The band have made post hard-core music more accessible with their hit ,'This could be Anywhere in the World' being played on rock club nights.

Not only have they made catchy songs, but great videos as well

- Alexisonfire Water Wings

Like many other bands that began early 2000's the band have just burnt out, and after ten years in the business no one can say they haven't had a good run at it.

When pop music goes bad

As a post clerk at a solicitors firm I spend hours folding and sending out hundreds of letters every week, but it's been years since I have written actually written a proper one.

Miss R.Black

247 Stuck in my head street
Won't leave my Headville

Worst song ever

SZI H8U

Dear Miss Black,

I am writing to tell you that your actions have ruined my life. I'm not the same person I was 2 months ago because of your imprint on the world I have changed, and it's all your fault.

Now no one likes getting up in the morning I'm going to be bold and say that is a fact. But because of you the getting up in the morning just isn't worth it. When I go downstairs and "get my cereal" the joyful ping of the spoon in my bowl and playful splash of my lactose free milk is just another reminder of your work. And what's worse I feel like you are mocking me, "gotta get down to the bus stop and then I see my friends", good for you Rebecca good for you, when I rush down to the bus stop I go solo. My friends are on the train or in their cars, I'm just minding my own business doing my Sudoku, but you miss it and get picked up in a soft top. Do you know what happens if I miss my bus? I get fired. Oh and P.S. my choice of seats on the bus is next to a sniffer, a talker or a worker with dead eyes.

My life used to be good, really good yes I'd get a song in my head from time to time, the Match.com and their enjoyment of old movies has definitely done the rounds. But I've always been able to shift them. But your song has not left my head, since the first listen and what's worse people take advantage of this hold on me. My boss mentions the word Friday on purpose and then sings your song/torture device. I call it torture device because I have seen films where they play the same song on repeat over and over until the detained screams out or just goes plain mad and well now that is my life.

At work it is an activity to get an annoying catchy song completely stuck in other people's heads and guess what it's yours. Your song isn't making people happy, it's the musical equivalent of The Ring, when people hear it they die inside.

I think my job aids it, constantly opening the post and checking dates to send letters out and people mention days of the week. On Monday I just know that in three days my hell will worsen, someone will ask what day it is on Wednesday I get a cold shiver and my palms get sweaty. Conversations go along these lines, "It's only Wednesday today, I want it to be Friday" then there "It's Friday, Friday". I dread hearing the days of the week, because it's just another thread to your tapestry.

It's like a gateway drug Wednesday is the equivalent of marijuana and Thursday is just full blown heroin.

People have said the glint in my eye has gone, my spring in my step in more like a thump and my sunny disposition has evolved into a thunderstorm. They say chin up, you will get through it your stronger than this, but I'm just not sure I am.

Now I'm not for one second claiming that my life is the worst life in the world but before I learn't of you it was at least 70% better.

Yes Rebecca I am referring to your song 'Friday', or at least I think that's what it's called I can't really remember what it's called because when I hear it my brain boils and then leaks out of my ears. I'm not one of those people who is going to post a death threat on twitter to you or wish you bad luck in your life I just thought you would like to know that mine is ruined.

Today is Sunday, so by your calculations, I've got four days until I can even consider "Partying partying yeah". Other things that have plagued me and your torture device are your sweeping generalisations, "Everybody lookin' forward to the weekend", really everyone? Do you think the nurses that have to look after Saturday nights people that have been "partying partying" so hard that they are consistently throwing up and soiling themselves think thank god it's the weekend.

I'm not saying that the inebriated general public that fill hospital waiting rooms on a Friday and Saturday night is your fault, but I'm going to be honest I don't think you've helped.

I think you have got my point and I hope as you drive round in your soft top, with your personalised number plate and your new designer clothes behind your newly whitened smile and your auto tuned voice should be the cold sting of guilt.

Yours

Cat.

Funeral For a Friend

Funeral for a Friend, have recently been praised for their latest album Welcome Home Armageddon. This record is a heavily anticipated return to their hardcore roots, and it has even been called, "Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation part two". Where other bands have failed to bring back the je ne sais quoi Funeral For a Friend have triumphed.

The Welsh rockers recently ventured up to Wakefield and I caught up with newest member Gavin Burrough to talk about the new record.

Your album Welcome Home Armageddon has recently been released how has that been received?

Yeah it's great, it's nice to be playing the songs that you've worked hard on over the last year. We're really proud of the record and we just want people to hear it. It's going well so far.

It's been compared to your 2003 album Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation, how do you feel about that?

I think that when we got together,and spoke about the writing process, there were elements of the band that were maybe missing. The ones that we knew people liked about the band and we wanted to introduce it back in. There's a lot more screaming, a lot more energy and it's fast paced, which we wanted to bring in. I suppose in a way you can kind of associate that with like Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation. I think at the same time we've still tried to keep it fresh and relevant.

Funeral For a Friend have been around for 9 - 10 years, why do you think there has been quite a big change in your sound?

I think when you're in a band you don't want to kind of rehash what you have done, you want to progress. I think the biggest change in sound was the third album with Tales. And I think the kind of impetus for that album was that everyone was copying what the band had done, and they didn't want to be associated with it, that was the big issue for that album. Now with this album we're trying to revisit our routes really and try and get that energy and aggression back into it.

The American pop-punk sound seems to be quite particular today especially in the charts, as a British band where do Funeral For a friend fit in there?

We're British Punk, pop punk. No I wouldn't say that, the Americans can do their thing and we'll do ours. Matt (leader singer) does sound a little bit American when he sings, he has a big passion for American punk bands. We're Welsh, but I think if we sang in Welsh accents it would be weird.

You have been awarded accolades like Best Band before, do these things change you ?

Oh they have it's gone straight to my head (laughing). No we're grounded people, we've all come from working class backgrounds and it's nice that people appreciate what you do and say nice things about you. At the same we know who we are as people.

How do you feel about the Welsh music scene at the moment?

I think it's great, tonight we've got a welsh band 'Tiger Please' playing with us. There's so many bands out there at the moment and so many good bands from Wales. When we started Lost Prophets were the first band to really kick it off from there on it's been obviously ourselves; Kids In Glass Houses, Bullet For My Valentine, The Blackout there's loads. There's really a melting pot for talent down there.

You guys are playing Wakefield's Black Flag, what do you think of Yorkshire?

Yeah we have been here plenty of times but not in Wakefield. We've played Leeds, northern people are nice.

What are you hoping for with tonight's show?

Sweaty people, jumping around and having fun.

What's Next for Funeral for a Friend ?

More touring, World Domination, just loads of touring going to Europe next month, festivals over the Summer and then Australia and America later in the year. Just pimping the album out getting people in people's faces, listen to it, it's great

The Black Flag in Wakefield is hotter than the sun, the front of the room is squirming with sweaty fans who are desperate to get a glimpse of Welsh Rockers, Funeral for a Friend.

The claps get faster and faster, as the sound technicians and roadies tease the crowd, taking a lifetime to complete all necessary checks on the equipment.

Lead singer Matt Davies worked the crowd easily with quick wit and charisma, you may have thought that you were watching a stand up act not a gig. In the middle of the set Davies announced that this was the best audience they had played to. The front-man was then hit with the ever popular "Yorkshire" chant, quick as a flash Davies replied, "Thank you I am very happy you are aware of where you are geographically", the crowd erupted with applause and laughter.

The band kept veteran fans happy dedicating the majority of their set to their older music, most of their 2003 album Casually dressed and deep in conversation was played. The crowd reacted manically to , "Juneau", screaming as the first chords were played before jumping and pushing each other to the beat.

They made sure that they made time for their newer material playing a few songs off their current album Welcome Home Armageddon, due to returning to their heavier sounding roots, this was recieving just as well as their earlier material was.

For fans of Funeral for a Friend if they had braved the front, the gig was rib squashingly good but the only downside was that you needed about 3 hours to cool off!

Mountaineer

Up until now the only bands I had heard about from Germany were called 'Die Toten Hosen', which literally means The Dead Trousers, but in everyday conversation it means 'nothing going on' or 'boring'. And another Deutsch band I am familiar with are rockers Rammstein -who are a great way to learn basic German.

Initially when listening to Mountaineer I noticed similarities between them and UK pop acts. The lead singers voice could easily be mistaken for Lancashires' Damon Gough (aka Badly drawn Boy) and the melody of the songs have hints of The Magic Numbers.

Listening to this album conjures up all sort of imagery of the 60s,

the flicks in the hair, the smooth shaped white furniture, the floral print and orange or beige coloured scenery. This is an album compiled of chilled out pop tracks, that some are guilty of lacking in atmosphere.

Among the tracks on the album to take notice of is ' The Real McQueen',which is extreme easy listening. This song is so laid back that it is almost horizontal, the beat and sound are so mellow, but repetitive hooks and interesting lyrics keep your attention. The influence of their sound in this song seems to point towards the American country and western scene.

'Aleena', echoes the trademark sound of our very own Damon Gough, armed with an repetitive catchy chorus, this track would probably be best suitable for single release.

On 'The Real McQueen' album, some of their tracks without vocals could be described as 'musak' and may be more suitable played in a hotel lobby or waiting room. These are all in-keeping with the overall sound of the album, but some tracks may have been best left off of it.

The final song of the album is a repeat of the opening track 'Always Coming Home', but taken down a few paces. Neatly ending the album, and showing there is an order or story that they are trying to convey.

This album is not designed for adrenalin junkies, people who need a therapeutic rock fix or parties. It is as mentioned previously definitely for easy listening, the chilled out sound, will not make you feel strongly about the subject they are singing of but will keep you swaying to it.